When it is OK to do less than your best work

Alan S. Glos

Well-Known Member
Forum readers probably know that I have a little cottage industry buying and selling small sailboats, parts and gear and making repairs for some of the locals. A few weeks ago, I agreed to look at a damaged Phantom (popular Sunfish clone) where the deck had separated from the hull flange most of the way around. The hull was in pretty sad shape with loose foam blocks inside, soft spots in multiple places but not waterlogged. A proper repair would be to route out all the damaged fiberglass at the failed joint, fill with a generous amount of thickened WEST epoxy or Total Boat Thickso (sp?), allign the two sides with clamps, clamp with all the spring clamps I could find, let cure, and clean up. With my modest labor and materials, I estimated the job at $300 - $350, more than the hull was worth. I told the owner and told her that we should landfill the hull and look for a Phantom hull-only. She agreed but a rather intensive Internet search did not find a suitable hull. Most of the hull-only hulls were too expensive or had similar hull/deck separation issues - turns out that this problem is common in many/most older Phantom hulls. In the meantime, summer was awasting away and my customer had no boat to sail on her little lake.

So the question was, was there an inexpensive way to make the repairs so the owner would have a boat to sail for the summer until she could find a suitable replacement?
With the owner's blessings, what I ended up doing was buying a tube of waterproof Liquid Nails construction adhesive and a few boxes of pop rivets with back-up washers.
I cleaned out the damaged areas, pumped in a generous amount of the adhesive into the gap, alligned hull and deck flanges with clamps, and installed pop rivets every 6". As the rivets tightened. there was a good run-out of the adhesive that I could wipe off with a damp rag. The adhesive set in a few hours and I sanded the new joint to remove any burrs or splinters. The completed repair was not pretty, but it water tight and the ring of rivets gave it plenty of strength. The construction adhesive served more as caulk than adhesive.
My total bill for labor and materials was $98. The customer was happy and the search for a better hull only will continue.

I do not like to get in the habit of doing less than my best work, but there are times when it does make sense. I would not recommend such a repair if the boat were to be be sailed on a larger body of water; my customer's lake us tiny, less than 1/4 mule across at the widest part.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
 
I love this example, and I sometimes remind myself that in a worst case scenario on my skinny lake, I could always swim to shore. Which I’m sure, will never happen!!

As far as doing your best work, I’m just today facing a situation where I’ve realized my best work is still fair-to-middling (fiberglass patching and fairing). But God willing, she will sail just as well with a bumpy patch as with a smooth one. If not, I guess I’ll be swimming.
 
Its a sunfish type boat what does it really need?

It needs to keep most of the water out, hold the mast up and rudder on.

While the liquid nail might not hold over time, I would not be surprised if a mildly used boat would not go for a few years. There is doing it pretty and getting it done so it can be used.

My brother is a mechanice on higher ends cars, mostly mercedes. I was in one time and a car with what he thought was a temp repair had come in for work. He did the temp repair like 10 years previous.
 
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The construction adhesive served more as caulk than adhesive.
My total bill for labor and materials was $98. The customer was happy and the search for a better hull only will continue.

I do not like to get in the habit of doing less than my best work, but there are times when it does make sense. I would not recommend such a repair if the boat were to be be sailed on a larger body of water; my customer's lake us tiny, less than 1/4 mule across at the widest part.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
My annoying sailor-buddy-expert says not to underestimate the strength of Liquid Nails.
:cool:
 
Good results from Loctite PL Marine and Loctite Subfloor adhesive also. SCUPPERS has some in her chine. You have to work fast, it tacks quick.

PL Subfloor.jpeg


You could have also dipped some terry cloth shop towel strips in RustOleum, Old School. Works but very messy.

Rustoleum dutchman.jpeg


SCUPPERS chine.jpeg


We'll try FlexTape next...

SCUPPERS floats.jpeg
 

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